The Christendom College Quarterly Magazine Summer 2011

Inside this issue...

Studying Art in the Eternal City - pg 13

Crusader Rugby has Historic Year - pg 14

Merchant of Venice Comes to Front Royal - pg 6

Graduation 2011

Students Spend Spring Break as Missionaries - pg 5

From the President Timothy T. O’Donnell, STD, KGCHS

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President O’Donnell delivered this address to the Christendom College Class of 2011 during Commencement Exercises.

C.S. Lewis, in his masterful Screwtape Letters, has a devil, Screwtape, write to his nephew devil, Wormwood, on the subject of tradition, in which he says, “To regard the ancient writer as a possible source of knowledge—to anticipate that what he said could possibly modify your thoughts or

your behaviour––this would be rejected as unutterably simple-mind-ed. And since we cannot deceive the whole human race all the time, it is most important thus to cut every generation off from all others; for where learning makes a free commerce between the ages there is always the danger that the characteristic errors of one may be cor-rected by the characteristic truths of another. But thanks be to our Father and the Historical Point of View, great scholars are now as little nourished by the past as the most ignorant mechanic who holds that “history is bunk.”

You know that the faith will always be attacked from within and from without. Today, the higher, and even the highest, reality has been denied or solemnly pronounced “unknowable.” In many areas, an arrogant, truncated, autonomous reason has claimed that it alone is the measure of all things and there is no room for mystery or any-thing outside its immediate domain. Such a defective philosophic culture, where there are serious misunderstandings in anthropology, our understanding of the good, the world, reality, and God himself, is always a disaster for the Church. Today with the fruit of the Enlight-enment, humanity has no origin and no destiny, as the light of Christ has been shut out in countless ways and areas of life and culture. The drama of salvation history, which you have studied here, has faded from consciousness, as autonomous man stands alone. Man now creates his own nature, orientations, and history, as these are no lon-ger acknowledged as something given or received. As Seneca once commented upon the chaos and confusion of his day, “Our plans miscarried because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”

Many in our world today of my generation and those over 40 have lapsed into a type of agnosticism and have become skeptics. Like all men, they sought and still seek happiness, but so often dreams and desires remain unfulfilled or broken. There seems to be no answer to life’s deepest questions and aspirations. As a result, a painful res-ignation seeps into souls, and skepticism dominates our worldview. Nietzsche at times railed not so much against the falsehood of Chris-tianity (although there is plenty of that in his writing), as the fact that Christianity in so many ways seems to be tired, worn out, exhausted. In one of his works, he wrote, “If they want me to believe in their Savior, they will have to sing better hymns! His followers will have to look more like men who have been saved!”

That is where you come in. As Blessed John Paul II cried out, “It is impossible to separate Christ from history.” As Pope Benedict stated during his 2010 Palm Sunday Address, “Faith in Jesus Christ is not a legendary invention – it is based on a true story. This history we can, so to speak, contemplate and touch.” Here at Christendom College, you have not been cut off.

Your studies here in philosophy, theology, history, literature, and the other disciplines have nurtured you in the resources of our rich Catholic, Christian heritage. You have not been “cut off,” but im-mersed! This places a serious obligation on you for you have come to know and to see the mystery of God who has revealed His face to us in Jesus Christ. You know that man seeks a living presence and in his heart truly desires a Person to fall in love with, for you know the mys-tery hidden through the ages for which the human heart longs, that Mystery Which was made Flesh and dwells among us, that Mystery Which remains present in the Church, at the center of our campus, and at the center of your own heart. What a gift – we cannot take it for granted. The angelic doctor, St. Thomas, in chapter three of the Summa Contra Gentiles tells us, “Faith does not quench desire but enflames it.”

My charge to you today is that you become in and to our world wit-nesses to the hope that is within you, witnesses to the world and to your generation. St. Peter, in his first epistle, says, “Be ready always with an answer to everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in you.” What does that verse tell us? It tells us that when you truly live the faith in charity, people will see something in you that is different and they will ask you why. It is then, as a witness to hope, that you can answer the lost generation of skeptics, and it is then that you can respond in love to Nietzsche, for you are men and women risen with Christ.

I conclude with a personal reflection on our recent trip to Rome for the beatification of Pope John Paul the Great. In St. Peter’s Square, they had set up a large screen showing video clips of that historic pon-tificate: the night of his election, the horrific footage of the assassina-tion attempt 30 years ago, and other moving events. The thing that moved me to tears was his broken presence and words at Toronto’s World Youth Day two years before his death. I share his timeless words with you today:

“You are young and the Pope is old, 82 or 83 years of life is not the same as 22 or 23. But the Pope still fully identifies with your hopes and aspirations. Although I have lived through much darkness, under harsh totalitarian regimes, I have seen enough evidence to be unshak-ably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young. You are our hope, the young are our hope. Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us in our real capacity to become the image of His Son. I finish with a prayer. O Lord Jesus Christ, keep these young people in your love. Let them hear your voice and believe what you say, for you alone have the words of life. Teach them how to profess their faith, bestow their love and impart their hope to others.”

My charge to you today: do not let yourselves ever be cut off – always stay close to those Unhealed Wounds, which alone can heal our broken world. Stay close to that Heart, that great beating Heart, which is so in love with men. Do that and you will be witnesses to the hope that is within you, and know that our hearts and prayers go with you.

Cover Story

College Honors Catholic Luminaries, Awards 81 Degrees at Commencement

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Christendom College celebrated its com-mencement weekend on May 13-15 by awarding degrees to 81 graduates, as well as honoring the Most Reverend James Conley, Auxiliary Bishop of Denver, and Dr. Robert P. George, author and professor of Jurispru-dence at Princeton University. Bishop Conley celebrated the Baccalaureate Mass on Friday, May 13, and was awarded an honorary doc-torate during the commencement exercises on Saturday, May 14. Dr. George was awarded the College’s Pro Deo et Patria Medal for Dis-tinguished Service to God and Country and delivered the commencement address.

During Saturday’s commencement exercises Bishop Conley, who taught Christendom students who participated in the Semester in Rome program from 2004-2006, received an honorary doctorate from Christendom Col-lege President Dr. Timothy O’Donnell.

“You are the real change-makers in our cul-ture even though, relatively speaking, you lack the size and endowments of so many larger Catholic institutions of higher learning,” the bishop said in his remarks. “Speaking from the heart of the Church with a confident Catholic identity, you are forming talented and creative disciples, equipping them with a Christian vi-sion of life, culture, and history and sending them out well prepared to be leaders in the contemporary world.”

After receiving the Pro Deo et Patria Medal, Dr. Robert George delivered his address to graduates, exhorting them to live a life filled with faith and trust in God. George recounted

the story of the rich young man in the Gos-pel who, after encountering Christ and being asked to give up all his possessions, turned away sad.

“All of us, every single one, rich or poor, has riches in the sense of things we desire and cherish and don’t want to give up or place at risk,” he said. “And it will be riches of some sort that we will be asked by Jesus Himself to sacrifice or place at risk.”

George explained that the vocation of every Christian includes a demand that, humanly speaking, is impossible. The call is always a de-mand for self-sacrificial love for the sake of the Gospel, but we must not suppose that it will

be about material riches.

Concluding, George implored the graduates to have “the strength and courage, the hope and the faith, and above all the soul-enno-bling, world-transforming, passionately-burn-ing love that will enable you to go and sell all that you have and follow Christ.”

Saturday’s ceremonies began with a bagpipe-led procession from Christ the King Chapel to St. Louis the Crusader Gymnasium. Salu-tatorian John Killackey welcomed all the at-tendees and told his classmates that it was in their studies and experiences at Christendom that they found humility.

Anna Zganiacz, Kerri Sciscilo, Noreen Daly, Katie McCloskey, and Amanda Dean.

James Hannon and Nick Freeman: Happy Grads! Seven legacy children graduated this year. Graduate Jimmy Canvin (l) speaks with Bishop Conley.

see GRADUATION pages 8-9

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Alumni Nurses Credit Liberal Arts Education for Successful CareersBy the year 2020, it is estimated that there will be a shortage of 800,000 nurses. With people living longer and needing more care, the healthcare field is one industry that seems to be growing, even despite the slow econo-my.

But rather than giving up on a well-rounded liberal arts education, and delving right into earning a healthcare degree, Chris-tendom alumni are thankful that they studied the liberal arts prior to earning their graduate degrees in nurs-ing. They believe they are better at what they do now, in part, because they earned their undergraduate degree from Christendom.

Ultimately, at the heart of nursing is the desire to serve humanity at the most basic level. Christen-dom alumni are broadly educated through their study of the liberal arts, and they are well-formed both spiritually and morally through the College’s spiritual and educa-tional offerings. So it is not surprising that many alumni decide to work in the health-care field upon graduation.

Armed with their Christendom education, they are able to tackle the many ethical issues that arise in the field of medicine and give their patients more than just physical care.

“Nursing is a rewarding and demanding pro-fession,” says philosophy major Teri Rusnak (’04). Rusnak, who holds a Diploma of Nursing from St. Luke’s School of Nursing in Bethlehem, PA, is convinced that the philosophy and eth-ics courses she took at Chris-tendom gave her the tools that she considers to be the most valuable in her work as a nurse.

“I have many hospice cases, and with them come difficult decisions,” she says. “I’m con-vinced I would not be able to make these ethical decisions in keeping with the dignity of the human person without my Christendom experience.”

A Stroke and Progressive Care Certified Nurse who works at Community Memorial Hosptial in Menomonee Falls, WI, Rusnak’s Christendom experience has taught her to balance the seriousness of her profession with the rest of her life. She did not have what she calls “a narrow college experience.”

Alumna Jill Vander Woude (’04) earned her BA in phi-losophy from Christendom before earning her Associate’s in Nursing from Marymount University, VA; she then earned her Bachelor of Sci-ence in Nursing from Jack-sonville University, FL. She believes that her Christen-dom formation is absolutely key to her ability to do her job well. As a Registered Nurse working in the Cardiovascu-lar Intensive Care Unit at Pitt

County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, NC, her patients are usually very sick and at a point in their lives where there is a lot of searching.

“I’ve had great conversations with patients, often starting simply with them noticing a cross or medal around my neck,” she says. “It’s awesome to be able to share the joy of loving Christ to someone who is nearing death or has lost all faith during times of illness.”

Vander Woude also found that she was a step ahead of everyone when going through nursing school.

“Many of my classmates had some sort of prior business degree,” she says. “I always laughed to myself when I heard them complaining about the five-page papers we’d have to write—having just recently completed my 40-plus-page philosophy thesis. Every employer I’ve

worked for has spoken highly of my philosophy degree and mentioned it as a deciding factor in hiring me.”

As a Registered Nurse at Reston Hospital in Reston, VA, history major Tess Ginski (’07), who earned her Bachelor of Science in Nurs-ing from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, has had the same experience in job interviews.

“Nursing supervisors are always interested in my previous degree,” she says. “I think a Bachelor of Arts degree tells an employer that you are a well-rounded, diverse individual with a broad base of knowledge.”

Much like Rusnak, Ginski’s Christendom degree not only helps her land jobs, but makes her a better nurse. Her knowledge of the teachings of the Catholic Church with regards to medical issues has also helped her in making patient care decisions—especially with regards to end of life care.

“The medical profession has a lot of gray areas,” she says, “and I often recall certain

points I learned in the moral theology and apolo-getics classes that I took my junior year at Christen-dom.”

These gray areas need ob-jective Truth as a guide, Vander Woude explains. She says that while the healthcare profession is full of many intelligent doctors, surgeons, researchers, and nurses—who do incredible things to help people—

very few are guided by objective Truth.

“I discovered this in nursing school,” she says. “Their work is in vain because they miss the mark on such important issues. It’s so im-portant to be able to see through the fallacies that are taught and lived out in healthcare. Thanks to my education, I can.”

Through their daily patient care and ethical decisions, Christendom alumni are working to restore the field of medicine to Christ.

“I am trying to be a good example of a Catholic young adult to my patients and co-workers,” Ginski says. “I am also striving to treat my patients as if they were the suffering Christ, and I try to treat them with dignity until natural death.”

Jill (Menke) Vander Woude (’04).

Nurse Teri Rusnak (’04).

Alumna Tess Ginski (’07).

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Christendom history professor, Dr. Adam Schwartz, recently reviewed William Oddie’s Chesterton and the Romance of Orthodoxy: The Making of GKC, 1874-1908, published by Oxford University Press in 2008, for the University Book-man website.

According to its website, for over five decades, the Universi-ty Bookman, founded by Rus-sell Kirk, has sought to redeem the time by identifying and discussing those books that diagnose the modern age and support the renewal of culture and the common good. Currently published only online, the Bookman continues its mis-

Schwartz Reviews Chesterton Biographysion of examining our times through the prism of what Kirk called the “Permanent Things.”

“Future Chesterton biogra-phies should benefit from William Oddie’s diligent research and lively intel-ligence,” writes Schwartz. “But such efforts will also recognize that Chesterton’s recovery of primordial sanity was enriched by his journey, not simply along the ortho-dox Christian way, but on the particular path to Rome, where he felt all roads led. For G.K. Chesterton, no less than

for Newman, to have become perfect was to have changed often.”

During Christendom College’s spring break, 61 students traveled to Honduras, the Do-minican Republic, and New York City for missionary work. The students’ work ranged from evangelization efforts to digging la-trines.

Twelve students went to Honduras, along with alumna Mary Kate Hunt (’10), Associ-ate Dean of Student Life Tambi Spitz, and Fr. John Luke of the Community of St. John. Twenty-four students and Theology professor Raymund O’Herron went to the Dominican Republic. Philosophy professor and Missions Program Director Michael Brown joined a group of 25 students to do missionary work in New York City.

“Over 15% of Christendom’s student body took part in one of these Spring Break mis-

sion trips! I am constantly impressed by the goodness and generosity of our students,” Brown said.

Brown also said that students’ lives are consis-tently changed through the experiences that they have. “They always tell me that they re-ceive more than they give. They see Jesus, the Church, the world, and poverty in a new way.”

In Honduras, student-missionaries went door-to-door evangelizing every morning. In the evenings, they hosted separate programs for children, teenagers, and adults.

Senior Katie Cruser described her experience in Honduras as “life-changing.”

“I am so blessed that I was able to take part in such an experience,” she said. “People re-ally need the encouragement and hope that is brought to them in the words and example of Jesus Christ.”

In the Dominican Republic, students trav-

Spring Break Mission Trips Attract Large Percentage of Studentseled to Banica, a mission of the Diocese of Arlington. There, they worked long hours bringing sup-plies to those in need and digging latrines.

“Banica was the most amazing experience of my life,” Senior Bernadette Horiuchi said. “The people in Banica are so beautiful. We speak of poor people—and true, the people of Banica are materially poor—but they have a richness of spirit that is hard to find anywhere else.”

Senior Janie Wells had the same experience in Banica. She saw that the people from Banica had very little, yet were happy.

“We have everything we need materially, and oftentimes everything we want—and yet we aren’t satisfied,” Wells said. “Their simplicity and gratitude made me rethink my life and realize how truly blessed I am to be an American.

Students who traveled to New York City served with the Franciscan Friars of the Re-newal in a myriad of ways—from painting the friary and breaking up concrete to data entry and cooking.

“I spent the whole week giving of myself out of a passionate, glorious love that comes

Senior Katie Cruser was one of 61 students to take part in mission trips over Spring Break. They went to Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and New York City.

only from the dear good God,” Junior Sarah Golden said of her trip to New York.

Golden worked in the kitchen during the week, preparing meals for her fellow student-missionaries. “I discovered that God calls us to love Him even in those closest to us,” she said. “I don’t need to return to New York to begin another mission trip of love and ser-vice. Every day of my life is a mission trip, in which I wholeheartedly give my family, friends, and fellow college students the beau-tiful, life-giving love of God.”

Each semester Christendom offers its students the opportunity to go on mission trips during academic breaks. Next year, the College plans on offering six different mission trips.

Student missionaries working in the Dominican Republic.

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The Christendom Players Bring The Merchant of Venice to LifeThe Christendom Players brought Shake-speare’s The Merchant of Venice to life at the Warren County High School Auditorium on April 8-10.

The play was dedicated to English Professor Dr. Patrick Keats, who not only performed a small role in The Merchant, but also helped di-rect the play. His thirtieth theater production at Christendom, Keats was joined by alum-nus Mike Powell in assisting alumnus Peter Smith, the play’s primary director. With cos-tumes and sets mirroring the 1920’s, the play showcased Christendom’s dramatic talent as actors tackled the many stirring scenes and complex themes of the play.

“Merchant has just about everything one could ask for in a play,” Keats said. “We had some very colorful characters, such as Shylock, the devious moneylender, and the lovely Portia, who matches wits with him—a suspenseful courtroom scene, three sets of romantic lovers, and some of Shakespeare’s most beautiful verse.”

Seasoned Christendom Player and senior Steven Curtin played the complex character of Shylock, the Jewish money-lender. His performance captured the passion, greed, and sorrow found in one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters. Freshman Matthew Harris, as the foolish Lancelot, and Keats, as

McFadden New Alumni Relations Director

Lancelot’s father, Old Gobbo, filled the audi-ence with laughter and gave a taste of profes-sional Shakespearean theater.

Sophomore Olivia Aveni gave a very memo-rable performance as Portia, the young Vene-tian heiress. Her presence on the stage carried the great dramatic weight found in the play, particularly in the famous courtroom scene.

Each year, the Christendom Players produce two plays, and because the College does not have a drama department, students from across all disciplines are welcome to audition for the performances, making Christendom’s liberal arts experience rich in the fine arts as well.

Senior Steven Curtin and freshman Michael Heffernan played off each other very well.

Sophomore Olivia Aveni played the lead role of Portia, seen here with freshman Andrew Clark.

Freshmen Joe Duca, Zach Smith, and Matt Harris added a lot of energy to the performance.

Matthew Harris (Lancelot) with Dr. Patrick Keats (Old Gobbo). This was Keats’ 30th Chris-tendom production.

Freshman Michael Plas made his on-stage debut alongside veteran Christendom Player, Senior Liz Newcombe.

Tom McFadden was recently named the College’s Director of Admissions, Market-ing, and Alumni Relations. McFadden, who has served as the Director of Admissions and Marketing since 2004, was tapped to take over the alumni affairs aspects of the former Student Activities and Alumni Affairs Direc-tor, Marie Antunes, who, after three years, has decided to pursue other ventures.

McFadden is no stranger to the alumni of Christendom, having managed the College’s alumni relations from 2000-2005. Now, after a 6 year hiatus from formally working with the alumni, McFadden is happy to be directly involved with aiding the alumni in improving their connectivity to one another and to the College, and in increasing their awareness of what’s happening at their alma mater.

“I am planning on making some changes to the way things have been done,” says McFad-

den. “I am redesigning The Grapevine and am working on some new ideas to improve Home-coming Weekend. I look forward to keeping in touch with everyone and encourage compli-ments, complaints, or comments anytime.”

With the graduation of the 81 members of the Class of 2011, there are now over 2600 alumni who have attended at least a semester at the College, with 1483 of them holding undergraduate degrees from Christendom. The alumni are leaders in practically every field possible, including medicine, law, edu-cation, public policy, government, business, finance, IT, nursing, and so much more. Ad-ditionally, many alumni have found their vocations to the priesthood, religious life, or married life, including 63 men who have been ordained to the priesthood (with at least 13 more men in the seminary), 43 women who have joined a religious order, and 300 alumnus-to-alumna marriages.

Volume XIX, Number II - Summer 2011

Published quarterly by the Christendom College Admissions & Marketing Office.

Executive Editor: Tom McFadden Contributing Editor: Niall O’Donnell

Copy Editor: Torey Cervantes

Christendom College 134 Christendom Drive, Front Royal, VA 22630

800.877.5456 ~ www.christendom.edu

Copyright © 2011. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is hereby granted, provided the following credit line is used: “Reprinted by permission from IN-STAURARE, the quarterly magazine of Christendom College (www.christendom.edu).” SUBSCRIPTION FREE UPON REQUEST.

INSTAURARE

Nicolosi Encourages Students to Become Active in Film and the Arts

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“The art made by Christians today is not only not beautiful, but tends to be among the ugliest art that mankind is producing,” screenwriter and professor Barbara Nicolosi-Harrington said during her talk to the stu-dents and faculty of Christendom College on

May 2. Nicolosi’s talk, entitled Why Holly-wood Matters, explored the challenges facing Christians in the art of cinema and the art in churches.

“We have sacrificed the beautiful to other things,” she said. A professor at Pepperdine University, Nicolosi is the founder of Act One, an organization that seeks to nurture the next generation of Christian artists and media pioneers. She was a theological con-sultant for The Passion of the Christ and she co-edited Behind the Screen: Hollywood Insid-ers on Faith and Culture. Her latest screen-writing project is Mary, Mother of the Christ, which stars Al Pacino and Peter O’Toole and will be released in 2012 by MGM.

She explained that the traditional philosoph-ical definition of beauty is the combination

of wholeness, harmony, and radiance. “That eliminates cute, pretty, facile, puerile, and ba-nal,” she said. “If it is easy, it is not beautiful. But, if when you encounter it, something in your spirit yearns... you feel deeply touched on your most human level—you’ve encoun-

tered the beautiful.”

In order to perceive beauty a person needs three things: sensitivity, intelligence, and imagination, she said.

Nicolosi also explained that egalitarianism, politics, and consumerism or cheapness have caused a loss of beauty in the art found in churches today. To illustrate the point, Nicolosi told the story of a tour she took of the new ca-thedral in Los Angeles. On

the tour she was shown a statue of Our Lady Queen of the Angels, which was described as androgynous and combining all different types of people and features from different races.

“I raised my hand and said, ‘You know, it’s kind of ugly,’ to which the tour guide said, ‘Uh, the Church isn’t about that anymore. The Church is about every one feeling welcome by including them in the statue.’ Now it begs the question whether Asian people look at the Pi-eta and go, ‘That’s nice for the white folks,’” Nicolosi quipped. “They were not going for wholeness, harmony, and radiance here. They were going for agenda, so they sacrificed the beauty because of the political point.”

Nicolosi also related a study done on the three most prominently used hymnals in the Cath-olic Church in America. The study found that

less than 25 percent of the composers in the hymnals had any musical training.

“That is awful,” she said. “We’re singing music that Barney would reject.”

Nicolosi challenged stu-dents to get involved in the arts, but especially cinema. “Should you not be one of the people—out of compas-sion and creativity—talking to the people of your time,”

she said. “I know you have the talent. What’s keeping you back? Fear? Laziness?”

This insightful talk can be downloaded at Christendom on iTunes U.

Students met with Nicolosi after her talk to have a deeper discussion.

Homecoming UpdateHomecoming Weekend will be held October 7-9, 2011. The College will welcome back alumni from over the past 34 years, and will celebrate the Class of 2001’s “Ten Year Re-union” with special events.

Homecoming will begin on Friday with the 2nd Annual Thomas S. Vander Woude Me-morial Golf Tournament. Later that evening, the annual Alumni vs Students basketball games will be held, followed by a reception in Kilian’s Cafe where alumni can network with current Christendom seniors. On Sat-urday, a special “Ten Year Reunion” luncheon will be held for the members of the Class of 2001, and the alumni reception and Home-coming dance will keep everyone entertained in the evening. On Sunday, the annual East vs West flag football game will be held during the afternoon (with tailgating opportunities) and the Chester-Belloc Debate Society will end the weekend’s events with a debate that evening.

Keep an eye on the alumni section of the College’s website for more information, and save the dates: October 7-9, 2011.

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“A humility that is not a false sense of sadness, or even despair, over our condition, but one that is centered on truth and fills us with joy and hope, because truth is Christ,” Killackey said. “Humility teaches us that though we have learned much in our experience here, we have only begun our search for knowledge and wis-dom, and we must continue this search all of our lives for the good of all those around us.”

The Alumni Association’s Student Achieve-ment Award was given to Matt Rensch for his dedication to the community. Rensch made great contributions to the academic life of the College and was active in varsity sports, mission trips, and many other facets of student life.

Following the presentation of awards to Bish-op Conley and Dr. George, Valedictorian Elise Anderson called on her classmates “to take the world with a storm of joy and laughter.”

“While there will be some people who will find us distasteful for our religion and ethical practices, I want to remind my classmates that there will be others who will be intrigued by us and the joy that we have,” Anderson said. “I firmly believe that our joyful responses to life will excite their curiosity. When you have those days when you least desire to act cheer-fully and to exhibit Christian charity, make sure you do it anyway. You never know how many people your actions may affect.”

Closing the ceremony, College President Dr. Timothy O’Donnell delivered his charge to the graduates [see text of his talk on page 2].

Eighty bachelor of arts degrees were awarded to Ben Allen, Richard Allington, Elise Ander-son, Jack Anderson, Margaret Antunes, Francis Aul, Daina Bowen, Catherine Briggs, Jacque-lyn Brogley, Brittany Buckner, Jimmy Canvin, Jordan Chenette, Peter Ciskanik, Katie Cruser, Steve Curtin, Noreen Daly, Amanda Dean, Jack Donohue, Claire Finlay, Joe Flaherty, Lynn Fraysier, Nick Freeman, Karl Haislmaier, James Hannon, Mary Harrington, Mary Hill, Berna-dette Horiuchi, Mike Inzeo, Lisa Irwin, Lauren Kavanagh, Thomas Kelly, John Killackey, David Klosterman, Rocco Levitas, Tyler Lowe, Nick Lowry, Scott Lozyniak, Emily Martin, Sarah Massett, Katie McCloskey, Emily McConnell, Maggie McGann, Sam McMahon, Margaret McShurley, Denise McWhirter, Matthew Van Mirus, Liz Newcombe, Brian Nysewander, Rory O’Donnell, Peter O’Dwyer, Lauren

Oligny, Nick Petersen, Ben Ranieri, Miriam Rauschert, James Redlinger, Matt Rensch, Megan Rolla, Kate Rollino, Joseph Ruhl, Kerri Sciscilo, Emily Scrivener, Rebekah Ski-ba, Jane Snyder, Marc Solitario, Troy Spring, Douglas Streeks, Angela Sus, Aaron Tatum, Joe Townsend, Elizabeth Twaddle, Mary Kate Vander Woude, Joe Wagner, Bill Waller, Eliza-beth Walsh, Madeleine Walter, Megan Wal-ters, Janie Wells, Brady Wilson, Ryan Wityak, and Anna Zganiacz. One associate of arts de-gree was awarded to Bethany Hepler.

GRADUATION... continued from page 3

Amanda Dean (l) and Valedictorian Elise An-derson were joint winners of the Robert C. Rice English Language and Literature Award.

Alumni Affairs Director Marie Antunes presents Matt Rensch with the Student Achievement Award.

Bishop James Conley of Denver was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by President O’Donnell.

Princeton Law Professor Robert George was given the Pro Deo et Patria Medal prior to delivering his commencement address to the graduates.

John Killackey was the salutatorian.

Mary Hill was one of 81 graduates in the class.

The graduates listen to Dr. O’Donnell’s charge.

Megan Rolla prepares for the big day.

9Christendom College Class of 2011: 80 BA degrees and 1 AA degree were awarded.

Catherine Briggs and family. Margaret Antunes and family. Richard Allington and family from England.

Sam McMahon and family. Mary Kate Vander Woude and family. Janie Wells and family.

Rory O’Donnell and family with Bishop Conley. Troy Spring and family. Lauren Kavanagh and family.

Kerri Sciscilo and family. Noreen Daly and family. Mary Harrington and family.

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Major Gift Officer Tim Flagg’s cross-country journey to meet with Christendom College’s most generous donors most recently contin-ued in Chicago, IL, St. Louis, MO, McKin-ney, TX, and Fredericksburg, VA.

In Fredericksburg, VA, Flagg had the privi-lege of sharing a St. Patrick’s Day lunch with long-time benefactors Rita Hagans and Mary Porter. Hagans is originally from Ireland and was happy to proclaim that, “St. Patrick’s day is just the first day of St. Patrick’s month!”

While there, Flagg shared the “good news” about Christendom with these wonderful la-dies, letting them know all the many things that Christendom students are doing to “re-store all things in Christ.” Hagans has been a loyal supporter of Christendom since its founding in 1977.

“My late husband, Col. Patrick Hagans, loved the Church and had a great devotion to Our Blessed Mother which led us to Seton High School and Christendom College,” she said. She is very pleased with the number of

Where in the World is Tim Flagg? “Hello Fredericksburg!”vocations that Christendom has produced over the years and she pointed out three of Christendom’s alumni priests who are in the Diocese of Ar-lington, Fr. Bjorn Lundberg, Fr. Tom Vander Woude, and Fr. Fran Peffley, as being ideal examples of how Christendom is changing the world. Mary Porter’s family was among the first Roman Catho-lics to settle in the Fredericks-burg area and helped build the first parish there many years ago. She has been a devoted supporter of Christendom for over 16 years.

“I like everything I hear and read about Chris-tendom,” she says. “I especially like that the students are not only learning their courses, but learning to stay strong in their faith.”

She is also pleased with Christendom’s con-

Long-time benefactors Rita Hagans and Mary Porter.

tributions to vocations. “I think it’s just won-derful that Christendom is producing such good priests for us! I hope you continue to do that!”

Flagg’s travels will continue over the next couple of months to Pennsylvania, New York, and the Carolinas.

Grad School Professor Matava Delivers Papers at Scholarly ConferencesDr. RJ Matava, the new full-time professor at the Christendom Graduate School, attended four conferences this spring/summer and pre-sented papers at two of them.

At the International Me-dieval Studies Congress in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Matava presented a paper on the topic of “Truth, Existence and Aquinas’ Theory of Adequation: Implications for the Middle Knowledge De-bate.” The essay brought to light a sixteenth-cen-tury prototype of the “Grounding Objection” before exploring Thomas Aquinas’ theory of truth as the adequation of in-tellect and thing, and what this theory brings to the current debate about groundless truths, especially counterfactuals of creaturely free-dom. The session was organized and spon-sored by the Center for Medieval Philosophy at Georgetown University, where Matava is a fellow this year.

A month later, Matava traveled back to the north Midwest to attend Marquette Univer-sity’s annual Summer Seminar on Aristotle and Artistotelianism. This year’s theme was “Causation, Motion and Change in Aristo-

telian Physical Science.” Matava’s paper, titled “Aristotelian Premotion and the Divine Causa-tion of Human Free Choices,” analyzed Ber-nard Lonergan’s readings of both Thomas Aquinas and Domingo Báñez on God’s movement of the human free will.

Additionally, Matava at-tended the Thomistic Circles symposium on “St. Thomas Aquinas and the Church: Theo-centric Ecclesiology” at

the Dominican House of Studies in Wash-ington DC this past April. In late June, he participated in the inaugural “Thomas Aqui-nas and Contemporary Philosophy” work-shop at Mount Saint Mary College in New York.

Matava said he is “excited to have the oppor-tunity to meet other people in the field and also to receive feedback on my research. I’ve learned that sometimes the most valuable part of a conference is the coffee break. There you have the opportunity to meet other scholars who, in a matter of minutes, can open a sig-nificant door for your work by their sugges-tion of a particular source or idea.”

Matava’s research and conference experi-ence enriches his teaching at Christendom. As he explains, “The work I’ve done for both essays has contributed directly to my teaching, particularly my theology of God course, where we discuss divine providence and evil.”

Research and teaching go hand-in-hand for Matava who points out that, “People often juxtapose teaching and research, but I prefer to see them as parts of a whole: research en-ables me to bring the ‘fruits of contemplation,’ as Thomas would say, into the classroom. The more I grow in my own understanding, the more I can bring to my students. At the same time, I have gained valuable insights for my research by engaging with students in the classroom.”

11

College Celebrates Beatification of Pope John Paul IIThe Christendom College community joined the Vatican and the rest of the Catho-lic world in celebrating the beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1. Celebrations took place at its Front Royal, VA, and Rome, Italy, campuses. College president Dr. Timo-thy O’Donnell traveled to Rome and joined Christendom students studying in Rome for the Vatican’s events, and he also led a tour of key locations from the life of Blessed John Paul II. And back on American soil, College chap-lain Rev. Donald Planty led the College in a series of on-campus events from May 1-4.

In Rome, on Saturday, April 30, O’Donnell led Christendom College students, alumni, and friends on a pilgrimage to sites associ-ated with John Paul II’s student days – from the Belgian College, where he lived, to the Angelicum, where he studied. The tour in-cluded a special tour of the Angelicum by Fr. Alejandro Crosthwaite, who opened the uni-versity’s archives to view John Paul II’s dis-sertation and other records.

After giving them an overview of the history of the building, Fr. Crothswaite then took them into the famous Room #11, where John Paul defended his doctoral dissertation on the doctrine of faith as found in the writings of St. John of the Cross. O’Donnell then spoke of the three members of his examination board, which included the brilliant, French Thomistic theologian Garrigou-Lagrange, the future Cardinal Philippe, and the future Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi. Fr. Crosth-waite also took the group to see a special display which included all of John Paul II’s grades, his student ID card, and the original copy of his doctoral thesis with the remarks made by Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange. Christen-dom College was only the second group to see this new display.

Fr. Crosthwaite took them to visit the beauti-ful Church of Sts. Dominic and Sisto, which was designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and contains one of his beautiful sculptures of the risen Christ and Mary Magdalene.

The tour concluded with a visit to the An-gelicum garden and to the special tree under which John Paul as a young student used to study. This tree, strangely enough, is a blend of four trees within one trunk: olive, laurel, fig, and palm––all growing out of one com-mon trunk.

“Being Polish, the beatification was the high-light of my senior year. I can’t even describe it. He was able to understand so many dif-ferent people and reach out to them,” senior Scott Lozyniak said. “The crowds at his be-atification were a testimony to how much the world loved him. His extreme love of the youth and his pastoral attitude toward so many issues of our day allowed him to reach so many more souls in this world, especially non-Catholics.”

Christendom Junior Frances Allington was with the Christendom group in Rome as they stayed up most of the night awaiting the beatification ceremony. “The hard ground, the crowds, and the dis-comfort melted into a distant memory at the moment when Pope Benedict declared his predecessor Blessed,” she said. “At that mo-ment they unveiled, suspended from the lo-gia, a tapestry bearing the face of a man who had looked out so many times from that very spot. This was the first pope I had ever known, whose name and face, for the first fifteen years of my life, had been the only name and face I ever associated with the term ‘Pope,’ and now, I saw this man declared ‘blessed.’ As the Polish flags waved, and the Polish crowds cheered, I, along with the minority of other non-Polish people in Saint Peter’s Square, joined in the universal Church’s celebration of the leader who, in many ways, shaped the course of recent history.”

In Front Royal, on Sunday, May 1, the live broadcast of the Beatification of Pope John Paul II was shown in Crusader Gymnasium, beginning at 4 am. Later that day, preceded by the recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, there was a special 3pm Mass offered in the Chapel of Christ the King to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday.

Sunday’s events concluded with a perfor-mance of Bach’s Magnificat in Christ the King Chapel, given by College professors Dr. Mark Clark and Dr. Kurt Poterack, accom-panied by students who served as vocalists and musicians for the remarkable piece.

On May 3, the documentary Nine Days that Changed the World was shown in Crusader Gymnasium. The film’s producer, Vincent Haley, was on hand and he gave an introduc-tory address about the film, which chronicles

Pope John Paul II’s historic nine-day pilgrim-age to Poland in June of 1979.

To conclude the four days of celebration, Fr. Planty offered a Mass in the Chapel of Christ the King in honor of Blessed John Paul II on May 4th, using the chalice and paten given to the College by Blessed John Paul II at the time of the Chapel dedication in 1995.

The Christendom group was in St. Peter’s Square during the beatification of Blessed Pope John Paul II.

Dr. Timothy O’Donnell led a group tour to all of the places where Pope John Paul II used to frequent during his days studying in Rome.

Pope John Paul II’s student ID card.

Dr. Poterack directed the Choir’s amazing per-formance of Bach’s Magnificat on May 1.

12

Chester-Belloc Room Renovation Sparks a Cycle of Alumni GivingThe Chester-Belloc Room of the Regina Coeli building has been elegantly renovated through the generosity of the Class of 2008 and the Chester-Belloc Debate Society.

The Chester-Belloc Room has always been an important space for student events. In the early days of the College, the room was the heart of campus life. The room was first known simply as “The Common Room.” It remained at the center of student activities until 1993, which brought the construction of St. Lawrence Commons. The room was renovated in 1996 and renamed the “Ches-ter-Belloc Room” when Mrs. Patricia Lem-mon, a friend of the College, painted the twin pictures of G.K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, which have hung over the fireplace ever since.

The room caught the attention of the Class of 2008, since it had not been updated for many years. Out of their gift, the walls were resurfaced and repainted; decorative glass wall sconces and alabaster dome-lighted ceil-ing fans were added; wood wainscoting and a new gas fireplace were installed; and new carpeting (donated by Mr. and Mrs. Richard O’Donnell, the parents of College president Dr. O’Donnell) and furniture were brought in.

The partial renovation sparked the interest of the Chester-Belloc Debate Society, which holds bi-weekly debates in its namesake room, continuing a tradition that goes back to the original society, founded by Dr. War-ren Carroll. Recently refounded in 2007, the Chester-Belloc Debate Society exists to prepare a new generation of conservative Catholic intellectuals for excellence in public

debate. The Society promotes Socratic inter-disciplinary discussion of controversial topics facing Catholics today in the areas of politi-cal science, philosophy, and theology.

Professor Eric Jenislawski, the Society’s fac-ulty advisor, offered to spearhead a fundrais-ing drive amongst the previous Chairmen of the Society. Dr. O’Donnell was enthusiastic about this idea, and was able to coordinate dollar-per-dollar matching with a generous donor. Within a week, all of the former Chairmen of the Debate Society contributed to the cause, raising over $1400. Enough funds were raised to purchase three new leather couches and five new leather club chairs for the room.

Within a few weeks, other alumni and un-dergraduate members of the Society wished to get involved. “I think the administration’s generous matching donation really struck a chord with our alumni,” said Jenislawski. “To see the College helping to fund some-thing alumni believed was an essential part of their Christendom experience really lit the fire to help. At one social function of the Society, Rand Brown (’08) walked up to me unsolicited with $200. ‘I want to help make this happen,’ he said. In a time when colleges are struggling to fundraise from their alumni, I think Rand’s conviction speaks volumes.”

Other members of the Debate Society con-tinued the cycle of giving. Marine Corps Lieutenant Andrew Cole (’09) bought and donated a handwritten letter by Hilaire Belloc for the room. Lt. Joseph Mazzara, a Sometime Chairman of the Society, and his wife Jennifer (both ’08), teamed up with Cole to purchase a humidor for the Society’s

use. Sometime Chairman Jozef Schutzman (’10) designed and procured a tapestry bear-ing the Society’s coat of arms, which now hangs in the room. The current Chairman, Tyler Anne Lowe (’11), organized fundrais-ing among undergraduate members of the Society to pay for matching black banquet chairs to seat attendees of the debates—an el-egant upgrade from the folding plastic chairs hitherto borrowed from the dining hall.

The improvements to the Chester-Belloc Room have been enthusiastically received by many at the College. “The room, since it is located in the heart of the main administra-tive building, is often the first place that visi-tors to the College see,” observed Admissions Director Tom McFadden. “Now that it has been enhanced with the beautiful decora-tions, furniture, and lighting, the room will better serve the needs of both our students and visitors.”

President O’Donnell agreed. “The use and restoration of the Chester-Belloc room gives great joy to me personally and to alumni, who have so many memories of the space. The room should now be a far more welcom-ing place for visitors, and be much improved for student use.”

If readers of Instaurare would like to con-tinue the series of gifts for the room’s further enhancement, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Christendom College with “Chester-Belloc Room” in the memo field.

To learn more about the Chester-Belloc De-bate Society, visit its website at:www.chesterbellocsociety.com.

The Chester-Belloc Room, or the old “Common Room,” before the renovation. The Chester-Belloc Room with new seating, lighting, and wall coverings.

13

Students Immersed in Art and Architecture of the Eternal CityChristendom’s Semester in Rome Program is quite unique for a number of reasons. First, students live and learn in the heart of Rome itself, within 10 minutes of the Vatican. Second, the students pay a mere $1000 in “Rome Fees” above and beyond their tuition, room, and board costs associated with at-tending Christendom. Third, the College has a close relationship with the Holy Father and many Cardinals and dignitaries in Rome. And fourth, Christendom attracts high qual-ity professors to teach in the program.

While in Rome for the semester, the students

take four classes: Moral Theology (or Apolo-getics, depending on which semester they travel to Rome), Roman Perspectives, Italian, and Art and Architecture.

Liz Lev, a well-renowned art historian who has been teaching in Rome for many years, has been Christendom’s professor of art and architecture for the past year. She is a much sought-after professor who teaches classes not only for Christendom, but also for Duquesne University and the University of St. Thomas. She studied art history at the University of Chicago and then did graduate studies at the University of Bologna.

When first asked to become part of Christen-dom’s Semester in Rome Program, Lev was a little hesitant, due to her other teaching commitments. But the College’s administra-tion and Rome team were persistent in their desires to have her come on board.

“I feel like I was courted – there’s a feeling of an extended sort of romantic story,” she says. “I was asked to do one lecture, then, maybe two, then, maybe I could do a couple little

things interspersed in the College’s course. And then a year and a half ago now, I was struc-turing a series of lectures. I’ve never felt this courted as I have at Christendom! It is in every way a very gentlemanly program. The students are always so elegantly dressed, they’re always so elegantly mannered, and even the way the Col-lege entices its professors is very genteel.”

According to Lev, one of the deciding factors with this courtship with Christendom was her experiences with its students.

“First of all, they present themselves exqui-sitely. For a professor, it’s re-ally nice to be the one walking around with the group of stu-dents that always looks so great and so attentive,” she says. “But what I think is really interesting about this group is the literary background. I find it very re-freshing and extremely pleasant to be able teach students with whom I have a common literary background. The more programs I teach, the more college students I come in contact with, the more I see the idea of great literature and the structure of great litera-

ture becoming rarer and rarer. And unfortu-nately the most important works of art, the works that everyone is interested in, are always grounded in some sort of literary background. The thing that the artist accomplishes in the Renaissance era that carries through to the Ba-roque and into the eighteenth century is that the artist becomes literate. The way I came to art history was through a love of reading these epic stories in mythology and then finding these pictures and the engagement between the two of them. So I have to say one of the things I appreciate the most about Christen-dom students is that they’re so literate! It’s really wonderful.”

Lev believes that study-ing art is very necessary and important because it has a tremendous power over people.

“When you live next door to the Vatican,

you see the tremendously long lines of people every day waiting to get into the Vatican Mu-seum to go look at the art. So obviously art has a huge impact on people; they want to experience it. But the art that people are in-terested in—the art of the Renaissance with people like Michelangelo, Rafael, Bernini, Caravaggio, Giotto, and Donatello—requires a little bit of understanding. And so I think it is particularly important for Christian stu-dents to know art, because that art was made for them. It was made to find ways to cast glorious lights on your body of faith.”

One of the benefits of studying art while in Rome is that one may see everything in its con-text. Unlike seeing a beautiful piece of art in a museum, when you see the piece of art, in its original place, where the artist intended his piece to be seen, it makes a world of difference.

“When you see Caravaggio, let’s say the St. Matthew cycle in San Luigi de Francesi, and you see how the light in the painting comes in through this space of the altar, when you see how Matthew is called toward the space of the altar, and at the end of his life he’s called up toward the space of the ceiling; or when you see Michelangelo’s Pieta sitting above an altar with the body of Christ looking like it’s going to fall on the altar––these elements of art make the art alive, they make it live,” she says. “You need to see it where it was made, and then to see that this faith is not some-thing that’s dead, as it is frequently presented to you—this mythology of Christianity. You sit next door to where you see tens of thou-sands of people every Wednesday come to see the successor of St. Peter. So it’s living. It is not a dead church; it is a living church and the art lives through it.”

Some of Christendom’s Semester in Rome students: Spring 2011.

Art historian Liz Lev taught the Art and Architecture class to the students studying in Rome this past semester.

14

Rugby Team Has Record Winning Season Spring 2011 Events

Crusader Rugby Team 2011.

Seniors Nick Freeman, James Hannon, Troy Spring, and Rory O’Donnell made up the country band, The Texas Heat, who provided countless performances over their four years on campus.

A student string quartet gave a public concert on Palm Sunday: Karl Haislmaier, Melanie Bright, Luke Tillotson, and Jennifer Nussio.

Angelica Cintorino and Maribeth Kelly play flutes during the semester’s Schubertiade, held at Dr. and Mrs. O’Donnell’s home.

Brady Wilson speaks during a recent Chester-Belloc Debate Society debate.

Rob Fetsko and Liz Newcombe compete in the annual Swing Dance Competition.

The Christendom College Rugby team has taken huge strides over the years, with this past spring season being a defining time for the team––they completed their second consecutive winning season and posted an historic record. With the success of this past season, one cannot overlook the work of pre-vious teams and dedicated coaches such as Mr. Mike Miller and Dr. Brendan McGuire who helped make this season possible.

Over the last few years the Rugby team has battled bigger and stronger teams. No mat-ter the score, the team battled and competed well until the final whistle. Like steel refined in the fire, the rugby team was battled and tested over the past few years, enduring de-feats, all the while never losing hope or de-sire for the game which attracts so many. Attracting over 20 dedicated men each year the rugby program at Christendom strives to build brotherhood through hard work and practice, no matter the weather, score, or circumstances. This past season was no exception for the team as they continued to forge ahead with their speed, teamwork, and endurance and they reaped the rewards with an historic season.

Under the guidance of first-year head Coach Don Briggs the team outplayed each of the opponents throughout the season. “It has been such a joy to be a part of Christendom and to get to know and coach these young men. I was very proud with the style of play that we were able to play, and give all the credit to the hard work of the guys on the team,” said Coach Briggs.

In sports often the hardest game in a season is the first game. This is in large part to the “newness” factor of players learning to play with each other for the first time and the ex-citement of the first game coupled with the huge difference between a game situation

and practice situations. The rugby team’s first games of the season were at Hampden Syd-ney College in Virginia for a 3 game tourna-ment in which Christendom lost to Christo-pher Newport University in the first game, but pulled out victories against Lynchburg College and Hampden Sydney University. The next match was easily the biggest of the season. Christendom and its undergraduate enrollment of 409 battled George Mason University with an undergraduate enroll-ment of just over 19,000––a classic David vs Goliath story, with a similar result! The game featured two distinct styles, with the strength and power of George Mason versus the speed and team-oriented style of Christendom. Led by many strong individual performances including Joe Long, Ben Ranieri, Connor Coyne, and Andrew Hepler the Crusaders held their own against the bigger Patriots of George Mason, with Aaron Tatum running in the winning score, and Tommy Salmon making the conversion kick for a 19-13 upset over the Patriots of George Mason.

The team next defeated Maryland’s Washing-ton College, 67-17, and then Montgomery College 93-0. During these two matches the rugby team played wonderful team-oriented rugby, something which was a recurring theme throughout the season.

To commemorate the successful season, Christendom’s Athletic Department created a new award, called the Crusader Achieve-ment Award, for the Christendom varsity team with the highest winning percentage in their season. With the 6-1 record, the 2010-11 Rugby team deserved this award and set the bar quite high for future teams. Congratulations to Coach Briggs and all the members of the 2010-11 Rugby team on a tremendous season and a special thanks to all the Christendom Crazies for their support.

15

Omnia in ChristoWhat is a Humane Economy?

Editor’s Note: The following is an edited version of a paper that Dr. William Luckey delivered at the Ciceronian Society Conference at the University of Virginia on March 18, 2011.

When discussing economics, the layman to the field gets bogged down in all sorts

of baggage about economics that clutters the view of the subject itself. He brings to the table theories that do not accord with reality, such as religious biases or a neo-classical bias. The result of this menagerie of error has been to obscure the real nature of economics and to cause confusion in the councils of government and the realm of public discourse. Since economics is a human science, we should begin with a look at the human person.

Human beings are thinking and feeling beings. They are not automatons, acting with cold reason all of the time, but frequently, their choices are based on the heart. The word “choices” is the key. Humans live in a world where they have to make choices every day regarding a myriad of things, some important, some trivial. People make choices in a rational way in that they choose according to their values. Aristotle reminds us that all men seek the good – no one intentionally chooses an evil. But people do choose evil things. This is because, as Aristotle puts it, they choose either a true good or an apparent good. The apparent good looked good to them at the time, considering their values.

Whenever humans act, the choice they make leads to an action. A person who makes choices but does not act lives in a fantasy world, and eventually dies from the lack of choice about the basics of survival. The very idea of choice implies an action. One cannot even reject this “action axiom” without acting. Most of the choices people have to make are between competing goods. The choice is based on subjective valuation—what is consistent with a person’s values. This does not mean that there are not objectively good values, but even objectively good things have to be subjectified prior to choosing them. In other words, I must see something’s value before I will choose it. And that choice must actually apply to me or my situation.

Additionally, all human beings act to better their condition. This is true in every area. Normal people desire to improve their participation in those things which they value, even though not everyone will pursue the better things, for a variety of reasons, from laziness, ignorance, alcoholism, or even taste.

In discussing what a humane economy is, a number of things must be remembered. A free society and a free economy are what Hayek correctly called a “spontaneous order.” Contrary to those who have an anthropomorphic view of society or the economy, no one created society, assuming it was not set up by a dictator. No one set up an economy. A society and an economy are not “things,” but interrelationships which come about out of natural human sociability, and need. These interrelationships go from permanent, such as family, down to the one time contact. A free society and an economy come about, as Adam Smith points out, as a system of “natural liberty;” meaning that these interrelationships are what people do. This is the foundation of exchange. A humane economy is one which allows this to flourish. But since no one actually sets up a free

William R. Luckey, Ph.D.

economy, the humane economy is one that we set up ourselves, by doing our own actions.

It was pointed out that not everyone conforms to the norm because we are reasoning persons with free will and a fallen nature. Society and the market need a mechanism to prevent the actions of others from interfering with our legitimate actions the ends that are not harmful to those around them. So some institution is needed to protect against fraud, coercion, and other such things. But because people generally know what enhances their values, that institution must not coerce them itself into choices that do not conform to their values, again within the ground of legitimacy. That is, choices that would hurt others to any significant degree.

What if, the complaint usually goes, the values of the society are stupid or bad? What is the cause of it? For instance, does the unparalleled success of the modern market economy cause materialism, or does the materialism in modern society come from the acceptance of twisted ideas, and the declining influence of Christianity. Or does it come from the human heart that infected with what we Catholics call the seven capital sins. Do people have free will or not? Is becoming a materialist not also a choice, chosen because what makes a person a person has been obscured by a bad education system, the media, etc? Are people as materialist as we think, or as the “industry of evil” has led us to believe?

Lastly, complaints are made about the size of corporations – that corporations are too powerful, and government needs to prevent their growth above a certain level of income. Firstly, this view that corporations want power comes from the progressivist platform, and has been parroted by many since then. Secondly, I would love to meet a non-economist who says these things who has read the ground-breaking article by Nobel Prize winner Ronald Coase entitled “The Nature of the Firm.” In that article he does what no else ever did—ask, “What is the firm, why do firms exist and what governs the size of firms?”

Regarding the first point, corporations do not want power, they want money. If they want power, it is only to enhance their profits. Since firms can’t coerce purchases of their goods and services, they have to get someone to do it for them. That someone is an all-too-willing government, the members of which, in exchange for campaign contributions and the promised votes of the members of the firm, makes a firm a monopoly, or gives it special breaks.

On the second question, Coase shows that firms are as big as it takes to make a product or service, but not any larger. Why? The key is cost. For a firm to make itself any larger than it has to be increases costs. Increasing costs reduces profits. Reducing profits irritates the Board of Directors, and drives down the price of the stock, thus opening the firm up to someone who will try to buy a majority of the stock, fire the directors and officers, and put in people who will cut costs in order to make the firm more profitable.

So in answer to the question of this paper, “What is a Humane Economy?” the answer is that it is the freedom of human action to provide what people want and need for their lives.

Dr. William R. Luckey is Professor of Political Science and Economics at Christendom College. He is an Adjunct Scholar of the Mises Institute and of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty.

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